


Blood is Compulsory

by ialpiriel



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Gen, reverse!verse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-11-26
Updated: 2013-12-10
Packaged: 2018-01-02 18:08:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,224
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1059917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ialpiriel/pseuds/ialpiriel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Castiel Marlowe sold his soul to save his sister Rachel from death - and was horrified to find that she had, in return, sold her soul to remain at his side in hell. Four months after the hellhounds tear them to pieces in Joshua's garden, they find themselves alive, whole, and six feet underground, and 400 miles from where they died. What comes after is bigger than either could have anticipated.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. What Shall I Do to Shun the Snares of Death?

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for thinly-veiled references to prostitution.

They are beautiful.

They are both beautiful - human souls drenched in the blood of thousands, lights still not dimmed, even as the fires and snow of hell curl around them.

They are simple, beautiful things - noneuclidean geometry folded and bent into a euclidean plane, curled in on itself in an infinite recursive loop of joy and anger and sadness and beauty and the taste of wet dirt and the stink of superglue and the feel of too-often-washed polyester bedsheets and the warm thick smell of burning gasoline and the thrum of the road beneath wheels and the drip of grease down unwashed fingers.

They are beautiful, and they are free.

+++

The first thing Cas felt was Rachel’s grip on his hand. She had wound her fingers through his and was squeezing fit to break bones.

“Cas,” she gasped. “Cas we’re alive.”

Cas had squeezed back - air was too precious to waste, and Rachel had to have known that, but Cas really did have to admit he would have thought it all a dream had she not said anything.

They unwound their fingers and pulled their shirts up over their heads to block out the dirt, just like Gabriel had shown them during lessons all those years ago. Both tucked their legs up and kicked as hard as they could, soft grunt the only other noise besides falling dirt and the thunk of boots on wood.

When the box broke - it wasn’t quite a coffin, it wasn’t the right shape and the wood didn’t smell right in among the rot and dirt and bugs - dirt rattled in around Rachel’s knees. she began kicking it away, and Cas helped.

In the end, it turned out they were four feet underground. Rachel hauled herself onto the surface first, followed closely by Cas, who kicked the hole closed after himself. Both Cas and Rachel sat next to it, breathing hard, and peeled the shirts from their heads. Rachel pulled hers back on. Cas left his lay across the felled tree trunk next to him.

“Looks like a bomb went off,” he murmured.

“Yeah,” Rachel agreed. “Lucky we were six feet under at ground zero.”

“Your watch still working?”

“Yeah. Yours isn’t?”

“Looks like the battery is dead.” Cas shook the watch a couple times, then tucked it into his jeans pocket. “Why didn’t Zeke and Gabe burn our bodies? We were dead, weren’t we?”

“They buried us.” Rachel shrugged. “Hey, what else you got? you still got your wallet, your phone, any of it?”

Cas dug through his pocket while Rachel dug through hers. They spread everything they found out on Cas’s dirty shirt.

Rachel had her cell phone - dead, predictably - fifteen dollars, her wallet with three fake IDs and her real Wyoming driver’s license, and her home-engraved handgun in its holster - although its chamber and clip were empty. Cas dug out his wallet - which had two IDs, a legitimate Oklahoma license, and ten dollars in it - and found a pair of crumpled cigarettes in his pocket. He found his lighter in the other, and lit one. He offered the other to Rachel, who just grimaced and waved it away. His personal handgun - the old one, with the professional engraving marred by his and Hester’s carved initials and the revolving cylinder - was strapped into his holster. Four of the chambers were filled, but the bullets weren’t in good shape. He knocked them out onto his hand and tucked them back into his pocket. Rachel watched him.

“You got an idea what happened here to knock down all the trees?”

“Something big. Balty or Zeke might know. Joshua definitely would, but we’re a little too far to get to him in good time.”

“Who we gonna go to?”

“Zeke seems like he would be the best to try. He was the last one I saw before the hounds got me.”

“So they got you too. I hoped at least one of us got a real demon instead of their pet chihuahuas, but I guess we just aren’t important enough for that.”

“Figures.” Cas smirked and reloaded his pockets. Rachel filled hers too, and Cas pulled his shirt back on. “Looks like we got out okay, though. God, I wonder who made the deal.”

“No way that was a deal.” Rachel gestured at the flattened trees. “ ‘sides, they told us you can’t deal your way out of a deal. I’d believe ‘em on that one. Someone ‘d ‘ve done it by now.”

“Looks like we’re already breaking precedents, wouldn’t be surprised if we broke that one too.”

“Let’s get into town. Maybe get some new clothes. These stink.”

“We got places to get to. Got no one to impress really.”

“Yeah, well, we ain’t hitching in clothes like these. We look like axe murderers.”

Cas laughed.

“Right. Let’s get water and food first. I’m starving.”

“Yeah, really,” Rachel rolled her eyes.

+++

“It’s been four months. We’ve been dead for four months. We were very definitely dead.” Rachel flipped to the next month while Cas dug out a few more bottles of water to stuff in the pilfered cooler along with the beef jerky, potato chips, gatorade, deli sandwiches, cold hotdogs, and half a pre-cooked apple pie that had been left on the counter.

“Four months. Felt a lot longer. Lot shorter too.” Cas dumped the bottles of water on the floor and dug the bags of potato chips out. He tossed them next to the water.

“Yeah, same.” Rachel flipped the calendar over to the next month, then back again. She tossed it back on the counter. “So where we off to first?”

‘I figured we’d go to Gabriel and Balty first, since they were the ones who buried us. Maybe they saw or did something.”

“Those two clowns? If they did anything it was make fun of our dead bodies.”

Cas snorted and smiled. “How late do you think we have before the truck drivers won’t pick us up?”

“Maybe another couple hours. It’s only five right now.”

Both fell silent. Rachel studied the locked case behind the counter.

“You need anymore cigarettes?”

“Yeah.”

“Come pick your favorites. You’ve got lots of choices.”

“Alright. You load the cooler and we can get on our way. Where we off to first?”

“Gabriel and Balty. They buried us. Maybe they saw or did something.”

“Those two? If they did anything, it was make fun of our cold dead bodies.”

Castiel snorted. “We can try Joshua after we get the car back.”

“Right.” Rachel looked out the front doors. “How late you think we can hitch?”

“Got maybe…” Cas leaned back and squinted at the sky. “Maybe two hours before dark.”

They both fell silent. Rachel studied the display case full of cigarettes behind the counter.

“You gonna get your cigarettes?”

“Yeah.”

Castiel and Rachel switched places - Rachel reloading the cooler, Castiel taking the butt of his gun to the display, cracking the glass on the second hit and breaking through on the third. He knocked the rest of the glass away from the opening. and grabbed three packs of cigarettes. He tucked two into his hip pockets, and the third into his shirt pocket.

“You got enough smokes, Humphrey Bogart?”

Cas shot Rachel a glare. She laughed. He grabbed another lighter off the rack on the counter and tucked it into his pocket

“I’ll have enough. Cigarettes are ingratiating. Don’t knock ‘em.”

“You’re addicted. First thing you did outta hell was smoke.” Rachel punched Castiel in the shoulder. He punched her back, and she tried to put him in a headlock. They ended up wrestling on the floor, and Rachel had gotten Castiel pinned when the radio clicked on.

Both were immediately on their feet, guns drawn. Cas loaded three bullets, and Rachel held hers like a small club. The static on the radio got louder and louder, then stopped.

They were in motion immediately, grabbing salt off the shelves and warding every door and window they could find. Rachel grabbed a magic marker and began drawing protection on the doors and the floor.

The static returned, and they huddled behind the counter.

“No extra bullets in some pocket somewhere?” Rachel asked.

“No, sorry,” Cas replied.

The windows began to rattle, and some metallic shrieked. Rachel and Cas cringed. They clapped hands over their ears, and the noise just got louder.

The windows began to rattle in their frames, and then burst inward with the loudest metal-screech yet.

Everything went silent, and Rachel and Cas slowly uncurled from their positions on the floor.

Nothing moved - no bugs outside, not the breeze through the open windows, not the long grass across the road.

“What the hell was that?” Cas asked, slowly getting to his feet. He rubbed at his ears.

“What?” Rachel leaned in. Cas repeated himself, exaggerating his mouth movements. She cupped one hand against her ear. “I have no clue. Load all four bullets, we can shoot this motherfucker if he shows.”

Cas loaded his last bullet.

Rachel touched her ear, and her fingers came away wet.

“Motherfucker ruined my ear drums. Yours too, looks like.” She touched Cas’s shoulder, and he looked up at her, startled. Rachel tapped her ears, and Cas reached up to his ears too. His fingers came away bloody, and Rachel grimaced. Cas grimaced back. He wandered through the aisles until he found a box of cotton balls, then stuffed one in each ear. He held out the box to Rachel, who waved it away. Cas shrugged and tossed it back on the shelf.

“You ready?” Rachel mouthed.

Cas nodded. he trotted into the back room and grabbed a Dolly from against the wall. he rested the cooler on top and rolled it out the door, after Rachel shoved the now-nonfunctioning sliding glass doors open.

Outside, the wind still hadn’t picked up. The dirt lot around the gas station was stirred up - randomly, not like someone had drawn anything in the loose dust. Cas passed his gun to Rachel, who cocked it again and scanned the surrounding area.

“Let's get to the interstate,” she suggested. Cas thought for a second, and nodded.

They headed down the dirt road.

+++

Cas shuffled out of the bathroom five minutes after the truck driver left. he spit in the dirt at Anna’s feet.

“Should be enough for a few tanks of gas, after that, long as we get a pretty efficient car.”

“Sorry it’s you.”

“We get what we can. Might be you next time.”

“You got a toothbrush?”

“Washed my mouth out with soap. Tastes worse.” Cas screwed his face up. “It’s too dark to hitch anymore tonight. Not dressed like murderers. That last guy barely let me in with him, drivers aren’t gonna be any better. We’ll have to just sleep in the woods or back in the car skeletons tonight.”

“Been a while,” Rachel laughed. “Gettin’ cold too. You ready to huddle?”

“Long as you take second watch.”

“Gotcha. Let’s go find a car to sleep in. How’s the cooler doing?”

“Gettin’ empty.” Cas kicked at it gently. “Let’s finish off the hotdogs, everything else can be room temperature for a while no problem.”

“Alright. Car, then food.”

In the end, they wound up in some square car out of the seventies, its whole engine block rusted out, one of its front doors gone, and the seats torn up by small animals. Rachel and Cas hefted the cooler - now dirtied by a day of dusty road travel - into the front seat, and huddled together in the back seat. Rachel fell asleep huddled under Cas’s arm, her legs draped over his. Both began shivering once the sun has disappeared below the horizon and the stars had begun to appear in earnest.

Cas kept his gun on his lap and tried to match up the earlier threat with anything he had ever heard about. It didn’t map to anything, except perhaps one of the really powerful demons. It couldn’t have been one of them, though, since it hadn’t kept coming for them. He spent the rest of the time running over the psalms in his head - even if they were useless as protective charms, they were reassuring, even after all these years,

The lights at the rest stop went off at eleven, and the last person drove away from it ten minutes later. Cas checked Rachel’s watch, and gently shook her awake at midnight.

“Wake me up at three, I’ll watch last leg.”

“Alright. Sleep tight. Try not to dream of hell.”

“I’ll do my best.”

Cas slept like the dead - didn’t move an inch, barely even seemed to be breathing. Rachel kept her arm over him, and he curled up against her, his face on her stomach, his knees tucked to hers. Rachel kept watch out the side window, toward the road. She rubbed his shoulders, and he relaxed a little more.

Nothing else happened until three, when Rachel shook him awake. He rubbed at his eyes, and stretched as much as the car allowed.

“I’ll wake you up at dawn.”

Rachel stretched across Cas’s lap, and dozed off. He kept watch out the same window Rachel had.

Half an hour before dawn - when the sky was just beginning to lighten in the east, down by the horizon - the first car pulled in. A woman got out, and unlocked the front door of the rest stop. The first semi truck pulled in just before the sun broke. The driver wandered in, face haggard, and left ten minutes later, coffee clutched in one hand,

“Rachel, sun’s coming out. Wake up.”

Rachel sat up slowly, and cracked her spine a few times. Cas readjusted his legs, both of which had fallen asleep with Rachel on top of them.

"Morning, huh. You rigged that so I got more sleep."

"You caught me out. I'll sleep in the truck on the way."

"We could probably both have slept. Not like there's anyone much out here." Rachel shook out her arms and opened her door. She swung her legs out and stretched toward the ground without standing up. Cas opened his door and got out. He rolled his shoulders a couple times, and Rachel could hear the snap of stiff joints from the other side of the car. "You sound like an old man," she told him, standing up and resting her elbows on the roof of the car. Cas shot her a glare.

"How soon do you think we can get a ride?"

"No one in the lot yet. no one to get a ride with."

Cas sat back down in the car and reached over the seat to grab a bag of chips. He ripped it open and held it over to Rachel, who sat down next to him. They put their feet up on the armrest in the console, and shared the bag between themselves.

"Grab the pie, would you?" Rachel asked. Cas leaned forward and grabbed the plastic box without removing his feet from the armrest. He held it back to Rachel, and wrapped his hands around his feet. he grunted as more joint popped. "I will never get over the fact you can do that."

Cas laughed and straightened up. Rachel popped open the box and dug out a mouthful of apple pie with her fingers. Cas took the pie from her and did the same.

"Pie and potato chips. All part of a balanced breakfast."

"Also cheap rest stop coffee if we go inside."

"Just like old times. It’s been too long since Michael gave us shit food for breakfast. All this goddamn healthy food we've been buying. This is where it's at."

"You like this life way too much."

"I'm good at it. Seems like as good a life as anything else. We're all freaks already, there's no point in pretending we aren't."

"Are we really having this conversation about your self-loathing before we've even been alive for twenty-four hours. Seriously, Cas, can you put it aside for one whole day?"

Ca went quiet. He pushed the pie back to Rachel and determinedly didn’t look at her.

"Not hungry anymore. I'm gonna go take a leak."

"Look, Cas, that's not what I meant-"

"It's pretty clear what you meant, and the worst part is I agree. I actually gotta pee, so hang out here."

Cas stepped out of the car and trotted up to the rest station. He walked in, back straight, face carefully blank.

Rachel crouched low in the car and waited for cops to show.

+++

The woman behind the desk barely glanced up when Cas came in, but looked up again when he hesitated in front of the bank of pamphlets and maps.

"You need somethin', hun?" she asked.

"Do you have any coffee?"

"That all you need? Look like you need more." She waved a hand at Cas's torso. He looked down at his dirty, ripped shirt. "We got a lost and found you might find something in if you need it."

"I just need a piss and a good cup of coffee. Couple cigarettes, but I've got those."

"Alright, sweetie, if that's all you need. I'll get one going for you."

"Thank you."

"We got a shower in the back room, if you need one."

"My sister would like a cup too."

"Where is she?"

"She's outside. I'll get her in a minute."

"I can take it to her."

"She'll be hiding. You won't be able to find her."

"Alright then. She need anything?"

"About the same I do is all. I'll be right back out."

Cas stepped into the bathroom and closed and locked the door. He kicked his boots off, and took his watch and cigarettes from his pockets. He stripped off his shirt and threw it on the countertop next to the sink, and stripped off his pants, undershirt, and underwear next. He froze as soon as his boxers were off - he hadn't noticed earlier, with his undershirt still on, but now, naked, he realized all of his tattoos were gone.

He checked in the mirror, just to make sure, and found that not only were his tattoos gone, he had two raised handprints burned on - one on each shoulder.

"What the everloving _fuck_ ," he muttered. He checked again.

Fifteen butterflies from hip to armpit - gone, not a scar where they had been.

Thirty bands over his thighs, done in dark blue or black depending on the parlor - his thighs were unblemished.

The tallies along his shoulders, every monster that he'd ever killed, all fifty-eight of them - wiped clean.

He felt along the back of his neck - no raised bumps where the joke barcode had been.

He turned his back on the mirror - the anti-possession sigil and the wings flanking it may as well have never existed.

"This too shall pass," written on his hip in curling letters - missing. It hurt more than most of the others that weren't present.

The devils' traps he'd gotten tattooed on each of his asscheeks - more as a joke than anything else but that had turned out to be a good investment - were both gone.

"I'm naked as the day I was born. Maybe more naked. Jesus Christ." He grabbed for his pants and rifled through the pockets, looking for a pen. He didn't find one. He leaned back against the wall and took a minute to breathe - that was his life story, things he had to remember, something simple to remember when anxiety or panic or severe injury struck.

They were important.

And they were gone.

He slid to the floor - still naked - and tried to breathe.

It was another five minutes of nearly hyperventilating - but never quite - when someone knocked on the door.

"Hun? Girl came in here, said she was looking for her brother. That you?"

"Yeah. Yeah, give me a minute. I'll be right out."

"Cas, let me in." It was Rachel, and the doorknob rattled.

"GIve me a minute," Cas repeated. He got up and pulled his boxers back on, then his jeans over them. He brushed off some of the dirt. he unlocked the door. "I was sponge bathing. I was naked," he explained when Rachel looked at his chest disapprovingly. He had seen her eyes widen a millimeter when she had seen how bare his shoulders were, but to her credit, she hadn't really shown her surprise.

"Hun, we got a shower for that."

"My clothes needed washing too, and I didn't want to use up your shower."

"You're causing more trouble in the bathroom than you would in the shower. You kids doing okay?"

"Yeah, well enough. We're on our way up to Alliance. Gonna meet up with our brothers there. Could do with a ride, if you've got one."

"We got a kid priest in town. Fresh outta seminary, priest sends him on all sorts of errands. I'm sure he could drive you."

"Thanks, but we can-" Cas began.

“Thank you so much. Will we need to stick around a few days?" Rachel interrupted him

"Should be able to get out of town today if you hurry over. You on a timetable?"

"No, we just have forty bucks between us. Not enough for a motel overnight. Not enough for a car either."

"Didn't expect so. Look, I'll call him up, you kids get your stuff together, I won't watch if you wanna keep your sleeping place secret, and you can wait in here. Looks like there's rain coming in."

"Looks like," Cas agree, glancing out the bathroom window. It didn't, but he wasn't going to argue.

"I'll go get the cooler, Cas, you finish dressing. Ain't nice to walk around shirtless.”

Cas rolled his eyes and retreated to the bathroom. He left the door open. The rest stop attendant stayed standing in the door as Rachel trotted back outside.

“Where you kids coming from?”

“Not far away. We were there a couple months, but it was time to up and leave. No good luck there. Going back to family.”

“And you’ll be okay there? You didn’t run away from the ones you’re going back to?”

“Nah. Different bunch of family. The ones we’re going back to are a lot better.” Cas pulled on his undershirt and wrung out his overshirt again. It dripped, and he shook it out. “Doesn’t mean they’re great, but they’re alright. Could be worse.”

“You sure you don’t need to get somewhere else.”

“Our brothers will help better than anyone else we know. We’ll be going to visit our uncle after, so it’s not like we’re trapped in one place. Just here, you know?”

“I see.”

Rachel came in, lugging the cooler behind her.

“I’ll go call. Sweetie, you go wash up, and your brother can wait out here.”

“Sure. Cas, don’t get into any trouble. I’ll only be a few.”

“Go sponge bathe.” Cas waved his hand at the bathroom and settled himself atop the cooler. The woman walked back behind the counter and settled onto a high stool. She picked up a phone. “What’s your name?” Cas asked her, before she could dial the number.

“Ellen,” she replied, and dialed. Cas studied the floor tiles, and began counting specks in them. It was comforting, and Cas realized just how much he needed the comfort. He was struck again by the fact his tattoos were mysteriously gone, and he did his best to keep breathing normally. He started counting specks again, and didn’t notice when Ellen came to kneel next to him. He did notice when she rubbed his shoulders. “You okay, Cas? You need a paper bag?”

“Can I smoke in here?”

Ellen craned her neck to look out at the street.

“One cigarette. Let me prop the doors open. Don’t wanna stink the place up.”

“ ‘Course.” Cas dug out his opened pack of cigarettes and his lighter. He fumbled one out - no tattoos - and lit it - need to get them back - put his lighter away - and a new one for four months in hell - and then the pack - hellfire across the stomach.

His throat seized up with thoughts of hell, and he held the cigarette away and did his best to breathe.

“Okay, kid, you ain’t okay. I know okay when I see it, and while you’re doing a great job of trying to hide it, you ain’t okay. What’s up.”

“Just got out of a rough patch. Woke up and my tattoos were gone and I relied on them for a lot of things. Gotta get ‘em redone. Not doing well in the meantime.”

“What did you used to have?”

“A lot. I had a lot of tattoos. Wings on my back, and a pentacle - that’s a protective star in a circle - and butterflies up my side for all the friends and family I’ve lost and bands across my thighs for all the people I’ve helped and tallies on my shoulders for all the sons of bitches I’ve put away and a barcode on the back of my neck because my brother is a persuasive bastard with a shitty sense of humor and a couple others that meant a lot more than those.”

“Shit, kid, you got it rough. Smoke as many as you need.” Ellen sat on the floor next to Cas.They were still sitting there in comfortable silence - Cas on his fourth cigarette, Ellen checking out the door occasionally - when Rachel came out.

“Priest here yet?”

“Give him another ten, and he will be. You had any tattoos?”

“One. It’s gone too. Just like Cas’s.”

“What the hell you do to get rid of them?”

“There are laser treatments.” Rachel shrugged and sat on Cas’s other side.

“You kids ain’t got enough money for a motel room and you’re telling me you got laser treatments?”

“Yeah, looks like,” Rachel laughed. “Truth is shittier, so I don’t really want to talk about it.”

“ ‘Course. That’s your ride.” Ellen pointed out to the parking lot. An old orange car had pulled up, and a young man - Rachel and Cas both decided no older than thirty - climbed out. He waved at Ellen, who waved back. “I’ll introduce y’all, and then you can be on your way.”

“Thanks for what you’ve done.”

“Shit, kid, I never got you your coffee. Go say hello and I’ll bring it to you.”

“Thank you, Ellen.” Cas and Rachel picked up the cooler and carried it out to the car. The priest beamed at them.

“You must be Cas, and you must be Rachel. it’s so great to meet you.” The priest held out his hand, and Cas lowered his end of the cooler to the ground. He took the priest’s hand. Rachel did the same. They both sized the priest up. He was still smiling, looking between the two silent siblings.

“I am Cas. It’s very good to meet you, Father.”

“You can call me ‘Dave.’ ‘Father’ is so formal, it makes everyone uncomfortable.”

“Of course, Dave,” Rachel agreed. She dropped his hand. “I call shotgun,” Rachel told Cas. She smacked him in the shoulder.

“Bitch.” He scowled.

“Dick.” She scowled back. Both of them cracked into grins after a long moment. Father Dave looked back and forth between them.

“Ellen said you were brother and sister. Where are you coming from?”

“We were down south of Hoxie. Trying to get back to Alliance. We have family up there. We’re headed back.”

“Really! That’s great. That’s an awfully long drive, though. You sure you wanna drink coffee all the way up there?”

“We’re good at long car drives. We’ve spent most of our lives doing them. You might have to let Cas drive for a while. He’ll take night shift, I’ll bet.”

Cas nodded.

Ellen strode out and held out three styrofoam cups of coffee - one to Cas, who took it and clutched it close to his chest, one to Rachel, who set it on the top of the car, and one to father Dave, who held it like a normal person.

“I’ll be seein’ you ‘round, then?” Ellen asked Father Dave.

“Guess so.”

“You two kids need anything, you just gimme a call, alright? Here’s my phone number. you gotta have cell phones, don’t know a kid your age who don’t. you need anything you call. You ain’t gonna put me out.” Ellen pressed a business card into Rachel’s hand. Rachel glanced at it and put it in her pocket.

“Thank you, for everything.”

“Ain’t no trouble, kid. Got a daughter of my own, don’t want you out there on your own. take care.”

Rachel smiled and opened the passenger side door. She grabbed her coffee and slid into the car. Cas opened the back door and manhandled the cooler across the backseat, and then climbed in next to it.

Ellen led Father Dave away by the elbow.

“Keep an eye on them. Don’t think they’re druggies, but keep an eye anyway. Boy smokes like a chimney if you let him. They’re keepin’ secrets. I don’t know ‘em, but watch out. keep the police on speed dial.”

“Alright. Thank you for the warning.”

“Ain’t no thing. Least I can do. Think they mighta got caught up in somethin’ they shouldn’t’ve. Grace of God deliver ‘em.”

Father Dave chuckled. “Grace of God. You proud of that joke?”

“Very.” Ellen clapped Father Dan on the shoulder.

“I’ll be back in a few days.”

“Alright. I’ll see you then. Call when you stop for the night.”

“I will. Take care yourself.”

Father Dave walked around the other side of the car and slid into the driver’s seat.

“Buckle up, you two. We’re headed out.”

Neither Rachel nor Cas moved. Father Dave looked at both, then shrugged.

“Alright. Up Highway 83?”

“Yeah.” Cas mumbled from the back seat. “That’s good.”

The car went silent after that, until Father Dan turned the radio to a religious music channel.

“Can we change it to religion talk?” Cas asked. “It’s one of the AM ones. Lots of Bible study and stuff.”

“Sure. You big on religion?”

“Thought about going into the seminary for a while. FInally decided I couldn’t do it.” Cas mumbled. “Studied the Bible a lot when I was a kid. Had a rough childhood, found a lot of comfort there.”

“You have a favorite book? Favorite chapter, favorite line?”

“Ecclesiastes. For everything there is a season. Have a tattoo that says ‘This too shall pass.’ It’s my favorite tattoo.”

“You got a lot of tattoos?”

“Yeah. I did. Not anymore.”

The car fell silent again. Rachel fiddled with the dial until it landed on the station she knew Cas was talking about.

The car went silent again, aside from the exhortations of a man disgusted with the immorality of the world. Father Dave shifted uncomfortably.

+++

It was a quarter past noon when the radio began to squeal. Ellen unplugged it and scowled at the roof.

“Sent ‘em on already, y’ weenie. You’re gonna have to follow them yourself. Sent ‘em with David. They’re headed up past Alliance.” She was quiet for a moment, and the lightbulb began to whine. “They aren’t that stupid,” she snapped back. “David told me. Get your ass in that direction. They ain’t gettin’ any closer to here.”

The whine in the lightbulb stopped.


	2. Man, Fly: Whither Should I Fly?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Road trips are awful to write.  
> Warning for references to prostitution and bondage.

Father Dave bought one motel room, but only after Rachel convinced him they had slept closer than that before. She lay down on the ratty sofa, and Cas collapsed onto one of the beds - the one closer to the outside door. Father Dave settled onto the other bed.

“What would you two like for dinner? It’s on me.”

“We can just order something in then. Pizza or something. We’ll pay. We have enough money for that. Just not enough for a car.”

“Or a motel room, if Ellen was telling the truth.”

Rachel and Cas both looked at Father Dave. He shrugged.

“Yeah, not really,” Cas agreed. “Thanks. We really do need to pay for something. It’s not alright to let you pay for everything.”

“You can pay for dinner then. Let’s go out. We’ll get a real meal - free refills or something. You’re both too thin.”

Cas and Rachel looked at each other.

“Is there a buffet in town?” Rachel ventured to ask.

“We’ll find one. And then we’ll drop by Wal-Mart and buy you some new clothes.”

“We’ve got clothes with our brothers. We don’t need new clothes. We’ll be fine until then.”

“Look, how old are you? Thirty on the outside? You’re clearly homeless, you don't even have enough money to buy a motel room, and if Ellen’s suspicions are right, you’re prostituting yourselves to get even what little you have. It’s the least I can do to buy you some new clothes and backpacks to carry your things.”

Rachel and Cas both sat up.

“We don’t need charity. Our brothers have all the things we need. Really,” Rachel reassured Father Dave.

“We don’t need to be in your debt,” Cas added. “We aren’t good at repaying them except in death and danger.”

“That’s a risk I’m willing to take. Let’s go. You have a dinner to eat and new clothes to be bought.” Father Dave opened the door and gestured for Cas and Rachel to leave. 

Both shivered when the blast of cool air hit them. They stood and shuffled to the door.

“Maybe a jacket wouldn’t hurt,” Rachel admitted.

“That’s what I thought,” Father Dave replied, and waved them out the door.

“Shotgun,” Cas told Rachel with a punch to the shoulder.

“God damn you.” Rachel laughed. Cas laughed too, and slung his arm around Rachel’s shoulders.

“We’ll look for a buffet, then we’ll go to Wal-Mart,” Father Dave repeated as he locked the door. He stopped before he got in the car, though, and looked at the two standing on the other side in their dirt-smeared clothes. “Actually, let’s get you two redressed first. Then food.”

+++

The three had huddled together at a back table - Rachel and Cas side-by-side, their backs to the wall and eyes glued to the door. They ate quickly and silently, going up together to reload their plates. They were on their third plate each when Father Dave - who sat on the other side of the table, by himself - broke the silence.

“Are Castiel and Rachel your real names?”

“Yes,” Rachel replied. “Weird, I know. You get used to them after a while. Couple of our siblings have weird names too.”

“Hael. Samandriel. Ephraim. Ezekiel. Balthazar.”

“All apocryphal and biblical. Do you have a very religious family?”

“Our older brother was a fan of biblical tradition, although not especially the tenets of said religion. We had some disagreements on the matter.” Castiel scooped up a huge forkful of mashed potatoes and indicated he was done with the conversation.

“You were raised by your brother?” Father Dave asked.

“Yeah. Left a few years back after a few big disagreements, we don’t talk to him now unless we have to. We’ve got another older brother we talk to a lot more.”

“How many siblings do you have?”

Cas and Rachel looked at each other.

“There’s a lot,” Rachel murmured, not looking away from Cas. Cas raised his eyebrows and narrowed his eyes. He swallowed.

“There’s Michael, Hester, Hael, Samandriel. Gabriel, Balthazar, Anna.”

“Joshua, Ephraim, Metatron, Ezekiel, Naomi, Zachariah.”

“Lucifer.” Cas chuckled. “God. ‘My brother Lucifer.’ It sounds like some lame religious take-off sitcom. He took the name himself when he and Michael had a falling out.”

“Does any of your family like Michael?”

“A few do. Honestly, the majority do. We’re part of the minority that doesn’t, but we’re a close-knit minority.”

“Which brothers are you going to meet?”

“Gabriel and Balthazar. Then we’re off to Joshua’s place up in the mountains.”

“Does Joshua support Michael?”

“Joshua doesn’t take sides. He helps anyone who asks, keeps secrets if you ask, passes information along if you ask. He’s a free agent.”

“He sounds like a good man.”

“He is. He really is.”

“Where does he live? I could just drive you there.”

“It’s classified information.” Castiel told Father Dave. Father Dave raised his eyebrows, and Castiel dropped his eyes back to his plate of food. He stabbed a few green beans with a fork. “And Gabriel and Balthazar still have most of our things. Even if Joshua didn’t mind other people knowing where he lived, we need to get our things.”

“Of course, of course.” Father Dave pushed his empty plate away. Rachel stacked the five empty plates, and mopped up the last of the gravy on her remaining plate with the last of a biscuit. Cas shoved the last of the green beans in his mouth, and did the same with the remains of his biscuit.

“You up for ice cream?” Rachel elbowed Cas in the ribs.

“Race you there.”

Rachel was out of her seat first, but Cas was close behind. He grabbed the back of her shirt and pulled her back. She smacked ineffectually at his face. Both were laughing.

Cas made it to the ice cream machine first, but Rachel got her cone before him, and hip-bumped Cas out of the way. Cas leaned against the counter next to her, watching, grin still plastered on his face. Rachel passed the finished cone - heaped with ice cream three inches high - over to him, and grabbed herself another cone.

“Aww, thanks.” Cas punched Rachel in the shoulder. She shrugged.

“Anything for my pain-in-the-ass older brother.” Rachel put the final curl on the top of her ice cream cone.

Father Dave watched them.

+++

Cas took the first shower, and after catching a glimpse of his uncomfortably-bare torso, kept his eyes closed for most of it.

He decided he needed a haircut when his hair hung into his eyes as it dried. He redressed in his new underclothes - plaid boxers that Rachel had thrown at his head when he had glared at her and a gray undershirt that was made for someone with thirty pounds more muscle and two inches more height - and carried his wet towel out to hang over the back of a chair. Father Dave was sitting on his bed in sweatpants and a tank top, reading a book Cas couldn’t see the cover of. Rachel was sitting on Cas’s bed, flipping through channels on the TV. As soon as she saw Cas, a wicked grin spread across her face, and she madly tapped at the buttons on the remote. Cas made a beeline for her, but not before she managed to tell him, “There’s a Casa Erotica marathon on see!”

“Goddamit Rachel there’s a priest in the room!” Cas leaned across Rachel, grabbing for the remote. She laughed and held it further away. Cas wrestled her down onto the bed, but she rolled him off the edge so he hit the floor ass-first. He was back on his feet in a moment, but not before Rachel tossed the remote to Father Dave, who was watching the proceedings over the top of his reading glasses.

“Catch!” Rachel had chirped, and Father Dave caught it with no trouble. Cas dragged Rachel to the floor halfheartedly, and quickly found himself pinned stomach-down on grody carpet.

“Bitch,” he sighed.

“Dick,” Rachel replied, and let him up. Cas rolled onto his back.

“Goddamit Rachel, I just showered and now I’ve got motel floor grime all over me.”

“Sucks to be you. I call next shower. I’ll be out in a few. Have fun.”

“Thanks,” Cas grumbled.

“Do you want me to turn it off?” Father Dave asked as soon as Rachel was out of the room. Cas was still laying on the floor, hands over his face, and Father Dave had to lean over the side of the bed to see him.

“Yes please,” Cas moaned, as the breathy sounds of sex filled the otherwise-silent room.

“Let him stew in his embarrassment,” Rachel called from the bathroom. “It’s good for hours of free entertainment.”

Father Dave hit the power button, and the sounds stopped.

“Thank you.” Cas sat up and pulled himself onto the bed. “You mind if I go to sleep? Didn’t sleep well last night, and it’s been a long day.”

“Go ahead. You need me to turn the lights all off?”

“No, I’ll be fine.” Cas untucked the blankets and pulled them over his head, leaving only his face exposed. He rolled to face the wall, and curled up.

A few minutes later, Father Dave could hear Cas’s breathing smooth out, and saw where - presumably - his shoulders were go slack. Rachel came out of the bathroom a few minutes after that, in jeans and a t-shirt, and threw her towel over the back of one of the other chairs.

“Already out, huh.” She nodded to Cas, and Father Dave shrugged.

“He told me I didn’t need to turn the lights off. Are you going to go to sleep now too?”

“I think I’ll stay up for a while. Pass me the remote.” Rachel sat down on Cas’s bed, back against the headboard. She nudged his back with a knee, and he wormed his way over toward the other side of the bed. Father Dave passed her the remote, and she turned the TV on. She channel surfed until she found a spanish-language soap opera. She turned it down until it was barely audible, and tucked her knees up to her chest. Father Dave set his book aside and watched too.

By the end of the half hour, both Rachel and Father Dave were on the edges of their beds, stage-whispering angrily at the television. When the episode finished both sat back and looked at each other.

“Cas can’t know.”

“Of course not. Nobody can know.”

“It’s a marathon.” Rachel nodded at the screen as it came back from a commercial and played the title sequence.

“Is he asleep?” Father Dave craned his neck.

“Yeah. He’ll be out until midnight at least. We’ve got a good couple hours.”

They turned back to the TV.

+++

Cas woke up on the floor, drenched in sweat, gasping for air, fighting off his tightly-cocooned blanket. he extricated himself and shuffled into the bathroom. He flipped on the light - someone had turned it off - and started the hot water in the sink. He sat on the edge of the bathtub and rested his face in his hands. He could still feel his heart hammering in his chest. When the water had warmed up, he splashed some on his face and the back of his neck and sighed. He turned the water off and looked around the bathroom. He picked is jeans up off the floor and pulled them on. He buckled the belt - new, fresh off the rack at Wal-Mart - and looked around for his socks. He finally found one of his and one of Rachel’s, and pulled both on. Rachel wouldn’t care, and the sock fit. He shuffled out of the bathroom and found his boots - still sitting by the door - and pulled those on too. He shuffled through his new duffle bag until he found his pocket notebook and a pen, and wrote a note out to Rachel - “Went for walk @ 1:30, if not back by 3AM call police.” He left it next to her where she had fallen asleep on the couch. He grabbed one set of keys off the table and tucked them into his pocket. He stuck his gun through his waistband - even with only four bullets of questionable integrity, he could hold anything off until Rachel could come rescue him. After a moment of thought, he grabbed his pack of cigarettes and lighter too. He locked the door behind himself when he left.

He wandered toward downtown - the motel was on the edge of town, and there wasn’t much to see but Highway 85 and fields of almost-ripe corn. Even in town there wasn’t much - just dark storefronts and cracked sidewalks. He stopped in front of the 24-hour gas station and sat on the curb. He opened his pack of cigarettes and lit one.

It was 2 AM and his fourth cigarette when the man came to sit next to him.

“You’re up early,” he commented.

“Could say the same to you.”

“I work at the gas station. It’s my job to be up at 2 AM.”

Cas looked over at the other man. He was tall, and clearly muscular, and had hair long enough to be pulled back into a tiny ponytail. He had a weirdly pointy nose.

“Fair enough.”

“What’s your name?”

“Roger.” Cas held out his hand.

“Your parents must’ve been dicks to name you Roger.”

“It’s a family name. Yours?”

“Samuel.”

“Nice to meet you, Samuel.”

“You got a cigarette to spare.”

“Yeah. Here.” Cas passed the pack of cigarettes over, and then his lighter. Samuel passed both back when he had finished with them. Cas put them both away.

“How do you smoke these things?” Samuel asked after a minute of silence.

“Nervous habit. First boyfriend smoked like a chimney, I picked it up somewhere along the line. Never really stopped.”

“You look pretty good for a long-time smoker.”

“Haven’t been smoking that long. Was eighteen when I picked it up. Only twenty-six now.”

“That’s a good eight years,” Samuel pointed out.

“Haven’t smoked in months. First pack since May.”

“You’re already half done with it,” Samuel pointed out, stubbing out his cigarette.

“It’s been a stressful couple of days.”

Samuel chuckled. “You should probably be getting back to the motel. It’s getting early.”

Cas had his gun drawn in a moment. He was on his feet a half second later.

“How did you know I’m at the motel?” He demanded. He cocked the gun and aimed at Samuel’s head.

“Whoa, whoa, easy there ,Roger. I don’t recognize you, and I saw you walk in from that direction. No need to shoot me.”

“I’ve seen a lot of shit in twenty-six years. Don’t trust you. I see you around again, I’ll shoot you before I ask anymore questions.”

“I get it. It’s cool. I won’t follow you. I’ll just go back inside now. I swear I won’t do anything. I swear, man, please don’t point that thing at me.” Samuel stood up and stumbled back toward the gas station doors. Cas kept the gun trained on him until he was inside. When he had retreated behind the counter and was huddled in on himself, Cas took off running, back to the motel.

It was a five minute dead sprint back, and he fumbled with the keys, barely putting his gun away to do it. He was still shaking when he slammed the door behind him, and Father Dave and Rachel both jolted awake.

“Went for a walk,” he gasped. “Was smoking in front of the gas station. Attendant came out and talked to me. Knew where we were. Knew we were from the motel.”

“How,” Rachel asked, on her feet and across the room before Cas had finished

“Said he didn’t recognize me and I came from this direction. Figured I must be from here.” Cas slid to the floor, back against the door. Rachel squatted in front of him.

“What did you do after that?”

"Pointed my gun at him and ran when he went back inside.”

“Shit Cas. Dave, you good to drive?”

“N...No?”

“Cas, how ‘bout you?”

“I’m good. Little nervous. All nerves. I’m good.”

“Alright. Dave, we gotta go. This is how we live. Don’t get recognized. Don’t let them know where you are. Pack up your stuff.”

“I’ve got one of your socks, Rachel,” Cas told her, still sitting on the floor.

“Thanks for the warning. Where the hell are yours?”

“Night terror. Couldn’t be fucked to find both mine.”

“What of?”

“Later.”

“Right. Get your stuff Dave. Cas’ll drive, you can take shotgun or ride in back. Get him the keys.”

“You even allowed to drive?” Father Dave asked as he dug the car keys from his pocket and handed them to Cas.

“Yeah. Licensed by the state of Oklahoma.” Cas dug out his wallet, flipped it open, and then stuck it back in his pocket after Father Dave had a look at his license. He dragged himself to his feet and took the car keys from Father Dave. Rachel tossed him his notebook, and he threw it on top of his duffel bag. he hefted his bag onto his shoulder as Rachel did the same. Father Dave looked between them.

“What’ve you kids done? You criminals?”

“No. But we’ve made enemies. A lot of enemies.”

“How did you manage that if you aren’t criminals?”

“Cops. Our brother is a cop, and we were going to be too, but there was a falling out. A lot of the guys who hate Michael have started coming after us since they think we’re easier targets than Michael. We aren’t, but we have to keep moving.”

“You aren’t cops. There’s no way.”

“I just said we weren’t. Look, Dave, we need to leave right now. The longer we stay here, the more likely it is that someone is going to show up and gun all of us down. I’ll go check out, you and Cas get the car started. I’ll be out in five minutes. Cas, don’t leave without me.”

“We’ll be around front. Don’t take too long. I sprinted back but he might not be far behind. ‘specially if he’s got a car.”

Rachel headed out into the hall, and Cas bolted after her. “My keys,” he explained, and tossed them down the hall to her. She caught them, and continued on her way. Cas withdrew to the room. Father Dave stood in the middle of it, arms akimbo, scowling.

“What are you kids involved in?”

“We were dead for four months, and something brought us back. We hunt monsters for a living, and we think it was a monster that brought us back from the dead. Whatever it was tried to attack us a couple days ago, blew the windows out of a gas station where we stole our cooler and got all that food. Whatever it was didn’t show corporeally, but that doesn't mean it doesn’t have a meatsuit now. Even if Samuel - that was the guy at the gas station’s name, that’s what he said - wasn’t that monster, he could be a demon, or a witch, or even a skinwalker or werewolf. That’s why we need to go right now so don’t argue, just go with it.” Cas pushed Father Dave toward the door. “Grab your bag, and let’s go.”

“I’m coming. So monsters are real?”

“Yeah, they are, and most of them have developed a taste for human flesh.”

“And you were dead?”

“Yeah. Used to have tattoos, but whatever raised us wiped ‘em. We can still be possessed right now, we need to get it retattooed. We’re working with pen on skin right now. Not very effective. you should probably get protected too, since you’ve been seen with us by now.”

“Do you remember what heaven was like?”

“I sold my soul, Father, because a sonuvabitch killed Rachel and she didn’t deserve to die. Then she sold her soul to the same demon and came with me. God only knows why someone brought us back, and how they did it.”

Father Dave crossed himself.

“Now let’s go.” Cas cocked his gun and threw open the door.

The parking lot was empty. He threw his duffel into the trunk of the car as Father Dave did the same. Father Dave climbed into the backseat, and Cas gave him a look.

“You sure you want to sit back there, Father?”

“If we’re being hunted by monsters, I don’t think I want to be in the front seat.”

Cas grinned wide enough to show his gums. He turned the ignition, and the car rattled to life.

“Smart man.”

He didn’t bother to put his seatbelt on as he pulled around to the front of the motel, where Rachel was carrying out her bag. She threw her bag in the - still-open to expedite things - trunk, and climbed into the passenger seat.

“On toward Alliance.”

Cas pulled out of the parking lot.

+++

Rachel had fallen back asleep after an uneventful half hour on the road, and Father Dave had dozed off soon after. Cas turned on the radio once he was sure they wouldn’t wake up, and cranked his window down.

Outside, crickets chirped.

Rachel stirred when dawn broke, and Cas gave her a tight smile when she blinked blearily at him.

“Time ‘s it?” she mumbled, stretching and yawning.

“Five-thirty. You can go back to sleep. We’ve got another couple hours to go before we’re anywhere near Alliance.”

“Alright. What did you tell Dave back there?”

“That monsters are real and they’re hunting us.”

“He believe you?”

“Near enough.”

“Hooboy. That’ll be a fun conversation.”

“Yeah. I’m planning on having him just leave us in Alliance, and we can walk the rest of the way.”

“Jesus Cas, it’s already seventy degrees out. By the time we can walk it’s gonna be a hundred. Does it matter if he knows where Gabe and Balthazar are?”

“No, but I think they would feel better. They’re already gonna run us through the gauntlet, we don’t need to subject him to it too.”

“Good point. Jesus Christ. What do you think they’ll make us do? I mean, there’s holy water and salt and iron and silver and all that, but there are things that don’t react to those.”

“Personal questions I guess. Divine intervention. A psychic.”

“Oh my God, They’re gonna tie us up and drag us to Joshua’s to have him check us out.”

“Great. We were headed there anyway.”

“You wanna be tied up for six hours?”

“Been tied up longer.” Cas turned to grin at Rachel and waggle his eyebrows. Rachel groaned.

“Goddamnit Cas, that was information I didn’t need to know. Keep your goddamn kinks to yourself.”

Cas laughed.

“Shut up,” Rachel grumbled. “Really, though, you wanna be tied up for six hours by your brothers?”

“Not really,” Cas admitted. “I’m hoping we can convince them it’s us before they break out the zipties.”

“Yeah. I hope so too. Relish your last few hours of freedom anyway.”

They went quiet again, and Cas turned the radio off.

+++

Father Dave woke an hour later, and looked at the two siblings sitting in the front of the car.

“Where are we?” he asked.

“Two and a half hours out of Alliance. We’ll be getting off there, we can walk the rest of the way, and I think Gabe and Balty would like you to stay away. They aren’t the friendliest pair, especially not to outsiders.”

“Will you be okay to walk?”

“Yeah, it’s not that far outside Alliance, and we’ve walked further. We’ll be alright.”

“If you say so.”

“We will be. We’re always alright.”

Father Dave watched the back of Cas’s head, and didn’t say anything else.

+++

They stopped in front of a gas station, and Cas and Rachel got their duffel bags out of the trunk. Cas gave the keys back to Father Dave.

“Thank you for all your help. You’ve been a lifesaver.”

“It’s no trouble. I’m worried about you two, though - are you certain you’ll be okay? You said monsters were chasing you? Are you going to be safe out there?”

“You should be more worried about yourself, Dave. We hunt monsters for a living. Here’s my cell phone number, that one below it is Cas’s, call us if you need anything. We’ll be there as soon as we can. And get that tattooed somewhere. It’ll keep you from being possessed by a demon or anything else. Basic safety precaution.”

“Alright. Can I call you with questions too?”

“Don’t get into monster hunting, Father. Don’t do it unless you have to. All it leads to is pain and death. It’s not worth it. Go home and do priest things. You’ll be happier doing that than you will killing monsters so they can’t hurt anyone else.”

“If you say so.”

“Thank you. Tell Ellen we said thank you to her too.”

“I’ll pass the message on. You kids take care, alright?”

“We will, Father. You take care yourself.”

Father Dave got back in his car, and drove off, leaving Cas and Rachel standing in a dusty parking lot, sun beating down.

“How hot you think it is?” Cas asked. Rachel licked her index finger and held it up in the air.

“About as hot as balls.”

Cas nodded. “Figured about there. How hot you think it’ll get by noon?”

Rachel studied the cloudless sky.

“Hotter than hell is my guess.”

“Maybe not quite that hot,” Cas disagreed as he swung his bag onto his shoulder.

“True, true,” Rachel agreed, swing her bag onto her shoulder. They set off to the north.

The road north was barren - the only sound was crickets chirruping away in the tall grass on either side of the road, and the occasional meadowlark singing from the powerlines. Neither Cas nor Rachel spoke. There wasn’t much to say.

Gabe and Balthazar’s house appeared out of the trees after an hour and a half of silent walking.

“You ready for the zipties?” Rachel asked as they stopped at the end of the driveway.

“Aww yeah,” Cas replied, smiling. He lifted his hands and wiggled his fingers.

“Glad to see one of us is looking forward to it.”

Cas laughed.

They started up the driveway.


	3. All places Shall Be Hell That are not Heaven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A long trip is taken, and Gabriel, Balthazar, Joshua, Ezekiel, Pamela, and the station wagon all make real appearances.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning for references to bondage.

Before Cas had even knocked on the front door, Gabriel threw it open and tossed a bucket of (presumably holy) water on him and Rachel. Both of them staggered back, spluttering. Gabriel tossed them a salt shaker.

“Eat it,” he ordered. “All of it.”

Cas swallowed and twisted the top off. He dumped a decent pile on his tongue and gagged when he tried to swallow it. He got it down, as did Rachel. Gabriel tossed both of them a pair of knives. “Iron, silver, show them both. Different arms.”

Rachel and Cas both sliced into their arms.

“It’s us, Gabriel. Seriously,” Rachel told him.

“What was Cas’s first boyfriend?” Gabriel demanded.

“A sleazy-ass, cheating motherfucker of a succubus,” Cas growled.

“What’s Rachel’s favorite stuffed animal’s name?”

“Jalapeño, like the pepper,”

“You can come in, but I don’t trust you.”

“Understood.” Cas agreed. He held his hands up as he ascended the stairs. Rachel did the same.

“Sit at the kitchen table. Balthazar will check you over more.”

Cas and Rachel proceeded to the kitchen table.

“Drop your bags over in the corner. Keep your hands on the table. Balthazar, you can start the spell. Yeah, you two sit like that.”

“They passed all the tests?”

“Looks like it. I still don’t trust it’s actually Rachel and Cas. No one comes back from hell.”

“We were pretty sure of that too, but here we are, right in front of you, in the flesh and being pursued by something, probably whatever raised us from the dead.”

“You’re what?” Gabriel and Balthazar both froze.

“Afternoon we were out, we looted a gas station and something blasted out the windows and made everything electrical go haywire. We booked it out of there. Neither of us as any of our tattoos left. We wanted to go up to Joshua’s to see if he could figure out what’s following us.”

“Joshua already helped us get you guys cleaned up and buried. Now you wanna bring something else that’s trying to kill you straight to his door?”

“Basically. Look, if we know what it is, we can figure out how to stop it. We can’t do that until we know what it is, and we can’t figure out what it is without Joshua. It doesn’t match any patterns we’ve ever encountered before. It’s something new.”

“Shut up, Cas. This is bad. Really bad.” Balthazar stood up and paced agitatedly from one end of the kitchen to another, then back. He say back down. “I’m gonna go with Cas here and say we should ask Joshua for help. We can’t fight something we don’t know.”

“Then it’s off to Joshua’s. Ziptie their hands, in case they aren’t Cas and Rachel. Better safe than sorry. I’ll go get the wagon started and call Joshua.”

Gabriel trotted out the front door, and Balthazar stood up to root through a kitchen drawer until he found a rubberbanded bunch of zipties. He waggled them back and forth and gave Rachel and Cas a false grin.

“Who’s into bondage?” he chirped.

Cas and Rachel both gave him unimpressed looks

“Shit, maybe you really are Cassie and Rachel.” Batlhazar tossed the zipties onto the table. “Hands behind your backs. Wrists together. You know the drill. Cas, you first. you were always the one who started the trouble.” Balthazar slapped a ziptie around Cas’s wrists and pulled it tight. Cas flinched as it dug into his skin. Balthazar clapped him on the shoulder. “Have a seat, get comfortable. You next, Rachel.” Rachel stood up and turned her back on Balthazar. He whipped a ziptie around her wrists too. She flinched the same as Cas. “And out to the car.” Balthazar pushed both by their shoulders towards the front door.

“What about our bags?” Rachel protested.

“I’ll get them after you two are in the car. We need to get moving if we’re going to get to Joshua’s before something nasty eviscerates us all. Go on. Tell Gabriel I’m getting your bags because you’re a couple of whiners.”

“We’ll pass the message on,” Rachel replied.

“Good.” Balthazar left them on the front porch, and went back inside to grab their duffel bags. Cas and Rachel made their careful way down the stairs and out to the rusty station wagon sitting in the driveway. Gabriel was sitting on the hood, on the phone with Joshua.

“Yeah, looks a lot like them, and they passed all the tests, but no one comes back from hell. It just doesn’t happen. It’s undocumented and impossible anyway. They’re standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at me. Do you think you can help us?”

Gabriel was quiet a minute.

“Alright. You call them in, we’re on our way now.” Gabriel snapped his phone closed and grimaced at Cas and Rachel. “Joshua said he would help. He’s calling in a couple more psychics just in case he needs to. Where’s Balthazar?”

“He’s getting our duffel bags because he said we whine too much.” Cas and Rachel ambled toward the car. Gabriel stood up.

“You two are gonna sit in the way back and keep an eye out for anyone or anything following us, got it?”

“Yes sir,” Rachel agreed. Cas nodded. Gabriel swung open the back hatch, and Rachel and Cas kneewalked to the seat. The flopped onto it and shifted uncomfortably until they could get their hands into a comfortable position.

“If you two have moved when I get back out here, I shoot you both. Am I clear?”

“Yes sir,” Cas and Rachel agreed in unison.

“Good.” Gabriel slammed the back hatch and locked it. The car was immediately hotter and more stifling.

“They’re just gonna leave us in here to cook,” Cas muttered after five minutes, as sweat began to slide down his back.

“Yeah. If we die, it was us all along, and if we don’t, they take us behind the barn and shoot us.”

“Yippee.”

Rachel snorted. “Maybe they think whatever brought us back from the dead will do it again or save us or something. That’s actually not too unreasonable. You think that’ll work?”

“Not sure I want to test the hypothesis. Ten more minutes, if they haven’t come back out, we break out.”

“Alrighty. How do you plan on getting out?”

“Bust out the back window.”

“With what, exactly?”

“Still got my gun. It’s in my waistband. Snap the zipties, break the window.”

“Balthazar missed your gun? That’s not exactly subtle.”

“You think I’m letting his hands anywhere near my ass? My shirt’s loose and so are my pants. It’s well-enough hidden as long as you can’t feel it.” Cas scowled at Rachel, who looked at him, turned to look at the horizon, and then burst into laughter.

“Jesus Christ we’re fucked up.”

“You’re telling me.” Cas rolled his eyes.

“There’s Balty and Gabe. Looks like they’re planning on staying too.”

Gabriel and Balthazar were both carrying two bags - Balthazar, his own and Cas’s; Gabriel his and Rachel’s. They threw them in the middle seat. Balthazar leaned over the backseat.

“Cas, hand over your gun. Didn’t find it in your bag, we buried you with the damn thing since you were so attached to it. I know you have it on you.”

Cas glared out the back hatch and hiked his shirt up.

“Goddamn.” Balthazar reached down and picked up the gun. Cas shifted uncomfortably, and Rachel grinned at him wide enough to elicit a glare. “Gabriel, I think this might really be Cas. Still has the gun and everything. Hester’s initials are on it, his initials are on it, I mean, this is the real deal.”

“That’s what we’ve been telling you,” Cas pointed out, rolling his eyes.

“Shut up,” Balthazar told Cas. “See, look at this.” Balthazar held the gun out to Gabriel, who had slid into the front seat. Gabriel took the gun and looked it over.

“Feels all the same. We’ll still ask Joshua, he can confirm if it’s really them. Buckle up, kiddos, it’s a seven hour car ride. Get comfortable back there.” Gabriel set the gun down on the dashboard.

Cas shifted around disconsolately and grimaced. Balthazar patted the top of his head, and Cas spun as far as he could to glare at him. Balthazar positively _cackled._

“Let’s get a move on, Balthazar,” Gabriel repeated, tone verging on threatening.

“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Balthazar waved one hand and climbed out of the car. He walked around to the other side

“He won’t be after I castrate him,” Cas muttered. Rachel sputtered, trying to keep from laughing. Gabriel turned and shot them a look.

“What did you just say?” he demanded.

“I said, not after I castrate him. He knows I hate it when he patronizes me.”

Gabriel grinned, and when Balthazar slid into the passenger seat, he had to muffle a laugh against the back of his hand.

“What?” Balthazar asked.

“Nothing,” Gabriel replied. “It’s going on the pop station. Any objections?”

“Yes,” everyone else chorused.

“Too bad,” Gabriel replied with a smirk. The station wagon filled with the tinny sounds of pop music, and everyone else groaned. “Oh, it’s not _that_ bad. You’re all just a bunch of drama queens.” Gabriel turned the stereo up louder, and hit the gas.

+++

"I can’t feel my hands anymore.”

“I thought you said you’d been tied up longer than six hours before?”

“Generally, the point of that was to get off, not to cut of circulation to my fingers.”

“God, you just kind of keep crossing the line.”

“That’s what happens when you bring up other peoples’ sex lives, Rachel.”

“What are you two arguing about back there?” Gabriel asked. He shut off the radio.

“I can’t feel my hands anymore,” Cas replied. “I can’t move my fingers. Can I get a new ziptie?”

“There’s a rest stop in ten miles. We’ll all have a pee break there. Think you can hang on until then?”

“I guess.”

“Good.” Gabriel pressed a little harder on the accelerator, and they edge a little further over the speed limit. Balthazar turned the radio back on, but didn’t even try to change the station.

“You’re going to let them have their hands back?” Balthazar murmured to Gabriel.

“Yes,” Gabriel replied, just as quietly. “They haven’t tried anything funny, and the more I listen, the more convinced I am that these are actually Rachel and Cas. Even if they aren’t, they haven’t tried any shit, so I’m willing to trust them for another three hours.”

“You’re an idiot.”

“That may be, but we’re the ones who are armed. If you think I’m letting them loose and then disarming myself you’re more of an idiot than I am.”

“Alright. Good.”

Gabriel scowls and turned the radio up a little more.

When they pulled into the rest stop, Rachel and Cas were out of their seats in a moment. Gabriel pulled a knife out from a sheath on his belt and walked around the side of the wagon to throw open the back hatch. Rachel and Cas both turned their backs to Gabriel, and he cut their wrists free. Both immediately massaged the blood from their hands.

“My fingertips are actually purple. Look at this. Actually purple.” Cas held his hand out for Rachel to look at.

“Yeesh.” Rachel grimaced. “Mine are swollen but they weren’t changing color.”

“Alright, kiddies, sorry to interrupt this pityfest, but we gotta get a move on. Go pee and I expect you back here in no more than five minutes. Six at the maximum. Timer starts now.”

“For fuck’s sake, Gabe, we’ve been stuck in the car for five hours and you expect us to just walk away like it’s nothing? I can still barely move my fingers,” Cas complained. he swung his feet around and stood up. Gabriel scowled up at him.

“Get a move on, then. Remember what Ephraim always told you to do when your feet fell asleep from sitting on them? Get up and move around.”

“I think he mostly told me that to watch me fall on my face.”

“That too. The rest of it’s good advice. You’re down to three and a half minutes. Better run.”

Cas stumped off, legs still stiff and feet clearly asleep. Rachel followed, gait much the same. Gabriel laughed as soon as they were inside.

“You let them go in unattended?” Balthazar asked, raising his eyebrows.

“They can’t even walk. Did you have to put the zipties on so tight? Cas’s fingers were actually changing color.”

“Sonuvabitch deserves it. You know the sort of shit he put us younger kids through?”

“I helped with half of it, Balty, ‘course I do.”

“He deserves it. You remember the saran wrap prank?”

“Yeah. I’ve still got the video on the computer at home. Thought about sending it into America’s Funniest Home Videos once or twice, revel in your embarrassment on national television.”

“Why did I stay with you instead of with Joshua? Or even Michael?”

“It’s because you love me best. Alright, they got thirty seconds to get their asses out here or I’m going in.”

On cue, Cas and Rachel came back out of the rest stop, hands returned to normal, and walked across the parking lot. Cas stuck his hands in his pockets. Rachel crossed her arms.

“Back in the far back?”

“Yup. Cleared out all the weapons, so there’s no point in looking.”

“Alright. At least I can move my hands again.” Rachel climbed int othe back, and Cas followed behind. He cracked his head on the roof of the car and clapped a hand over the reddening mark on his forehead. “Ow.”

“Poor baby,” Gabriel commented, and shut the back hatch again. Cas flipped him off. Gabriel replied in kind. Balthazar and Rachel both rolled their eyes.

Gabriel and Balthazar settled into their seats, and Gabriel started up the car. He pulled out of the parking lot, and as he returned to the interstate, another car pulled in. Cas and Rachel watched it, and Cas balked when he saw who got out.

“That’s Samuel and Father Dave,” he squawked. “That’s them. Drive faster Gabriel.”

“That’s who?” Gabriel asked, turning to look at Cas. He slowed a little.

“The priest who drove us up here and the guy who knew where we were staying in McKinley. I think the guy Samuel knows who we are, and Father Dave has no reason to know him or to have come this way. He’s from Hoxie.”

Gabriel floored the gas pedal.

+++

They turned west at Sterling, and then south again in Denver. For lunch, they stopped at a Burger King, and passed around a bag of a dozen hamburgers. Everyone ate three. Balthazar and Gabriel kept the fries for themselves.

They pulled into Colorado Springs at seven o’clock, as the sun was just beginning to sink below the mountains. Gabriel let Rachel and Cas back out of the car to pee at the Gas ‘n’ Sip, and Gabriel went in to buy everybody hotdogs. Balthazar passed his off to Gabriel.

They drove west out of Colorado Springs, toward Buena Vista. They turned north a half dozen miles down the road, and drove up into the mountains.

+++

Joshua lived in a house that constituted of barely more than a shed with insulation put up on the outside walls and plywood partitions. it was surprisingly watertight for its DIY construction. it faced north, and there was a small gravel parking lot on that side of the building, just big enough for four cars to park. In back was an acre of tilled land, currently overflowing with vegetables, herbs, and a pair of bad-tempered nanny goats that had guarded it since before anyone but Joshua could remember.

Gabriel parked in the space closest to the road back down. The only other car in the lot was Ezekiel’s shabby VW Bug. It had been repainted from primer-gray to primer-blue since Castiel and Rachel had been by last.

Gabriel let Rachel and Cas out of the backseat. Balthazar tossed them their duffel bags, and all four sibling walked up to the door - Balthazar at the front, Rache land Cas in between, Gabriel bringing up the rear. Balthazar knocked.

It was Ezekiel who answered the door.

“Come-” He froze when he saw Cas and Rachel . Rachel waggled her fingers, and Cas smacked her in the back of the head. She glared at him. “Joshua, you’ll want to be here.”

Joshua ambled out of the back of the house, wiping his hands down with an old rag. He nodded to Balthazar and Gabriel, and sized Rachel and Cas up.

“Didn’t expect to see you around for a while yet,” he told them. “How’d you manage?”

“No idea.”

“We brought them here to make sure it’s really them.”

“Well, ‘course it is. Look at ‘em. You ever seen two vampires that close? You seen more than one werewolf or skinwalker at a time? Demon would have played their hand by now. Besides, they reek of hell, and anything I’ve ever met scrubbed it off first chance they got. Come in. Pamela is here already, Missouri is in Denver. We’ll find who did this tonight. Have you eaten yet?”

“We had hot dogs in Colorado Springs,” Cas offered. “And a few hamburgers just out of Sterling. Gabe and Balty ate all the fries though.”

“For shame. Ezekiel, please get the soup started. You four come in and meet Pamela Barnes. She’s in the library. I’ll call you all to dinner. Leave your things by the door, you can get them sorted out later.” Joshua waved everyone inside. Ezekiel trotted off to the kitchen, Balthazar stepped aside, Rachel and Cas went immediately to the table, and Gabriel closed the door behind himself.

“Has Michael called?” he asked quietly.

“No. I told him not to call unless he needed something for a spell or needed information about a monster. Hasn’t stopped him calling a couple times, but he barely calls anymore. You don’t need to worry.”

“Alright. Good.”

“Why don’t you go help Zeke. He’s useful in the garden and around the house, but leaves something to be desired in the kitchen.” Joshua nodded toward the kitchen and smiled when Gabriel rolled his eyes and sighed. “Balthazar. You’re a good hand with a frying pan. Get in there and help them out.” Balthazar rolled his eyes too, but he smiled, and trotted to the kitchen. “Now, you two, you stay out of the kitchen. I’ve never met two kids who were worse with a spatula than you two. Come on. I’ll take you to Pamela.” Joshua waved them along and swung the door to the library open.

Cas had always liked Joshua’s library, not least because it had an entire shelf - within reach of a curious twelve year old - of bibles, and an entire shelf - also within easy reach of a curious twelve year old determined to get at it - of books with pictures of sex demons. It was the warmest room of the house, and also the darkest, and it was filled with decades-old furniture covered in questionable stains and floral bedsheets (to cover up the questionable stains).

Rachel liked it because it was quiet and there was an unspoken rule you didn’t bother anyone when they were in the library.

There was a woman sitting on the foremost couch in the library, her face all angles and her body all curves. Cas determinedly looked her in the eye.

“Well hello there. You must be Castiel and Rachel. So good to finally meet you.” Pamela swept her eyes head to toe over both, and held her hand out to shake Rachel’s first. “I’ve heard an awful lot about you. Michael’s golden children, eh?”

Rachel and Cas both pasted on smiles and said nothing as Pamela shook their hands. She raised her eyebrows.

“Not the golden children, I see. I hope you’ll accept my apologies so we can get down to business.”

“Apology accepted,” Rachel murmured. “How we gonna do this?”

“Figured we’d go the old-fashioned séance route. Josh here filled me in on what all happened, and none of the ghosts I can get a hold of are talking. Figured we’d call on whatever it is that raised your little corner of hell.”

“That sounds good,” Cas agreed, nodding. “What will we need to do?’

“Oh, hon, you? You just gotta be there.” Pamela grinned and waggled her eyebrows. Cas looked determinedly at the floor, and Rachel rolled her eyes. “We’ll need something it touched. You two know of anything it touched for a fact?”

Rachel rolled up her sleeve and bared her shoulder to Pamela. Pamela fitted her hand over the print there.

“This will be perfect. Thank you.”

Rachel rolled her sleeve down.

“We’re just waiting on Missouri, then.” Joshua cleared his throat behind them. “She said she’ll be here before nine, and then we can get this show on the road.”

“See you kiddos in a few hours then. Gotta get some reading in.” Pamela gestured to the stack of books on the end table. Cas and Rachel nodded and turned to leave,

Cas jumped as Pamela slapped his ass. He scurried out of the room, followed by Pamela’s short cackle. Rachel gave her a disapproving glare. Pamela shrugged.

“What?” she asked, still grinning. “He’s into me, I’m into him, can’t really invite him to stay the night when there’s six other people around, now can I?”

Rachel scowled and left the library. Joshua and Pamela shared a long look, and Pamela shrugged. “I’ll be here when you need me.”

“Noted,” Joshua replied.

“I don’t need sass from you too, old man.” Pamela pointed accusatorily.

“Also noted,” Joshua replied. He left the library and closed the door behind himself.

Pamela chuckled to herself.

**Author's Note:**

> Entirely unbeta'd - but if you'd like the job, drop me an ask at [my tumblr](http://ialpiriel.tumblr.com/ask).


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